DETROIT – A man arrested after Detroit airport security agents found a knife concealed inside a shoe in his carry-on luggage told police he believed he wasn't breaking the law because the weapon had already passed Transportation Security Administration screening at an airport in Alabama.

The 38-year-old suspect's statement is contained in an airport police investigative report obtained by The Associated Press via a Freedom of Information Act request.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

According to the report, a TSA screener says he discovered "an artfully concealed knife" in the lining of the shoe on July 6.

The man told police the same knife, similarly concealed, had not been "discovered or confiscated by the TSA" July 3 at the Huntsville, Alabama, airport.